The Political Thread

[CakeWalker]

I'm not going to go into the shit that has been happening or the stuff I have heard and seen, because its just gross. But if the entire country Israel was divided down the middle, as an option of peace. It would be rejected. It hard to find resolution, when the desire is all or nothing.

 

[Chris]

Panel Says That Innovative Sickle Cell Cure Is Safe Enough for Patients (Published 2023)

The decision by an advisory committee may lead to Food and Drug Administration approval of the first treatment for humans that uses the CRISPR gene-editing system.

www.nytimes.com

A panel of experts said on Tuesday that a groundbreaking treatment for sickle cell disease was safe enough for clinical use, setting the stage for likely federal approval by Dec. 8 of a powerful potential cure for an illness that afflicts more than 100,000 Americans.

 

[Chris]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/31/economy/national-association-of-realtors-commissions-high/index.html

A Missouri jury on Tuesday found the National Association of Realtors, a real estate industry trade group, and some residential brokerages liable for nearly $1.8 billion in damages after determining they conspired to keep commissions for home sales artificially high.

 

[Chris]

Hundreds of Americans appear set to leave Gaza through Rafah border crossing into Egypt

Foreign nationals continued to cross over the Rafah border crossing into Egypt for the first time since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

www.cbsnews.com

Hundreds of foreign passport holders and the wounded trapped in Gaza started leaving the war-torn territory Wednesday as the Rafah border crossing to Egypt opened to them for the first time since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. A list of foreign passport holders who can leave Gaza via the Rafah crossing has been released by Gaza's Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry.

 

[Chris]

Federal Reserve keeps interest rates unchanged for now

The U.S. central bank held interest rates steady for the second straight month as it waits to see if inflation decreases further.

www.nbcnews.com

The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged Wednesday as it continues to track inflation and the health of the economy.

The central bank voted unanimously to leave its primary interest rate in the range of 5.25% to 5.50%. U.S. interest rates are the highest they've been in 23 years. That means interest rates on loans such as mortgages have gone up sharply, and so have payments on Treasury bonds and interest-bearing accounts.

 

[Chris]

Birds in the Americas Will No Longer Be Named After People (Published 2023)

The American Ornithological Society has committed to replacing all bird names derived from people so as not to honor figures with racist pasts.

www.nytimes.com

The American Ornithological Society, the organization responsible for standardizing English bird names across the Americas, announced on Wednesday that it would rename all species honoring people. Bird names derived from people, the society said in a statement, can be harmful, exclusive and detract from “the focus, appreciation or consideration of the birds themselves.”

 

[Mitch Buchannon]

A lot of far-right Christians are using what's going on as an excuse to be anti-semitic and it's disgusting. I'm still a proud Jew, and I have lineage going back to Israel. That being said I will never support what the current government stands for and how zionism has been twisted to be Israeli supremacy over the other innocent people in both the West Bank and Gaza. Fuck Hamas, they are using this as a reason to kill Israelis. It's all fucked up.

 

[Deezy]

TAKE THAT RACIST BIRDS!!!!

 

[Chris]

US President Joe Biden calls for 'pause' in Israel-Gaza conflict

He was responding to a heckler's demand for a ceasefire in a war which has claimed thousands of lives.

www.bbc.com

The president was making a campaign speech in Minneapolis when a heckler urged him to call for a ceasefire.
"I think we need a pause," he replied, saying that it would allow for hostages to get out.

 

[Comrade Khan]

A lot of far-right Christians are using what's going on as an excuse to be anti-semitic and it's disgusting. I'm still a proud Jew, and I have lineage going back to Israel. That being said I will never support what the current government stands for and how zionism has been twisted to be Israeli supremacy over the other innocent people in both the West Bank and Gaza. Fuck Hamas, they are using this as a reason to kill Israelis. It's all fucked up.

I had no idea you were Jewish

 

[Mitch Buchannon]

I had no idea you were Jewish

I'm adopted so my biological father is Jewish but I've always known since I was a kid that I am

 

[Chris]

Former officer charged in the death of Tyre Nichols to plead guilty to murder charge, will face 15 years in jail

Desmond Mills initially pleaded not guilty to federal charges in September.

www.localmemphis.com

A former officer who was charged with the death of Tyre Nichols, Desmond Mills, will plead guilty to the murder charge after accepting a federal plea deal, and will serve 15 years in prison, according to the Shelby County D.A.'s office.

The D.A.'s Office said Mills will plead guilty to all charges brought against him by D.A. Steve Mulroy, including second degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and official misconduct.

 

[Chris]

Chief Executive of National Association of Realtors Resigns (Published 2023)

The resignation of Bob Goldberg comes days after a $1.8 billion verdict against N.A.R. and two months after The New York Times exposed complaints of sexual harassment in the group.

www.nytimes.com

The chief executive of the National Association of Realtors resigned from his post two days after a federal jury ruled that the powerful organization conspired to inflate home commissions.

The resignation of Bob Goldberg was announced at a closed-door staff meeting, as leaders scrambled to address the outcry that has followed the fallout from the legal verdict. N.A.R. and several brokerages were ordered to pay damages of at least $1.8 billion to home sellers who said they were forced to pay excessive fees to real estate agents. N.A.R. said it plans to appeal.

 

[Chris]

House Passes Aid Bill for Israel but Not for Ukraine (Published 2023)

The Republican-led House approved $14.3 billion for Israel’s war with Hamas, tying the aid to spending cuts. The Senate plans to craft its own bill that will include aid for Ukraine and Gaza.

www.nytimes.com

A divided House on Thursday passed a Republican-written bill that would tie $14.3 billion in military aid to Israel for its war with Hamas to domestic spending cuts, defying a veto threat from President Biden and bipartisan opposition in the Senate.

Republicans pushed through the measure on a mostly party-line vote of 226 to 196, a rare occurrence because aid packages for Israel normally enjoy broad bipartisan support. But the legislation, put forward by the newly elected Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, alienated Democrats because it would slash a tax enforcement initiative at the Internal Revenue Service, a part of the Inflation Reduction Act that is a key piece of Mr. Biden’s agenda.

 

[Comrade Khan]

tacking on public service cuts to foreign aid is fucking disgusting , shame